Renewable rail cap



22, 66 J- F. KING, JR., ETAL 3,286,650

RENEWABLE RAIL CAP INVENTORS James F K/ng Jr.

Foldier' LHP/H LLLpS p/(W ATTORNEYS Filed Feb. 4, 1964 t d. Statem 3,286,650 RENEWABLE RAIL CAP James F. King, Jr., and Foldier L. Phillips, Winston- Salem, N.C., assignors to The Bahnson Company, Winston-Salem, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed Feb. 4, 1964, Ser. No. 342,382 3 Claims. (Cl. 104-106) The present invention relates to track structure and more particularly to an improved construction for one or more rails which comprise the track and wherein the useful life of the rail surface can be prolonged. In general, the invention provides an improved construction for a rail cap that can be renewed when worn out thus eliminating the necessity for replacing the entire rail. While renewable rail caps are not broadly new, the prior constructions have exhibited various disadvantages, principally by failure to satisfactorily hold themselves in place on the rail. Various types of clamping arrangements have been proposed but most of these have relied simply upon a friction fit which is unable to hold satisfactorily for any extended period.

An object of the present invention is thus to provide an improved renewable rail .cap structure which can be replaced with a minimum of effort when worn out and which will remain securely in place on the track. In accordance with the invention, the rail cap is designed particularly for installation upon the vertically extending side of an L-shaped rail which can be standard angle iron, and the cap includes a flange which depends along the side of the rail and is secured to the rail by upsetting the cap flange into locking engagement within longitudinally spaced holes in the side of the rail.

The arrangement is such that when the cap is installed on the rail, a portion of each 'hole in the rail is exposed below the depending cap flange thus enabling the installer to very quickly locate each hole where the necessary upsetting action of the flange is to take place.

The foregoing as Well as other objects and advantages inherent in the improved renewable rail cap structure will become more apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment and from the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view of a two-rail track in transverse section taken in the vicinity of one of its cross-supporting brackets;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of a portion of one of the rails and the cap thereon;

FIG. '3 is an enlarged scale view of a portion of the cap and rail in the vicinity of one of the holes in the rail before the upsetting operation on the cap flange; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. .3 but after the upsetting operation.

With reference now to the drawings, the two-rail track depicted is typical of overhead track structure utilized in textile mills which is provided for mobile cleaners which travel above the machinery in the mill to keep the machinery relatively lint-free and which also are sometimes arranged for suction type floor-sweeping as well. Each of the two rails 1 is seen to be L-shaped and is usually made from lengths of standard angle iron arranged in end-to-end relation. A plurality of cross brackets 2 are provided at intervals along the trackway for supporting the same, and the tails are secured to the brackets by any suitable means such as riveting 3. The traveling cleaner I 3,286,650 ra -t d Nov. 22, 1966 is customarily motorized and the power to the electric motors is provided by an electrified rail structure extending along the trackway. In the illustrated embodiment, the electrified rail structure is seen to be constituted by three parallel spaced rails 4 which are electrically insulated from each other and which are slidably contacted by a brush block assembly, not illustrated, on the traveling cleaner structure. The rails 4 can be partially enclosed if desired and the illustrated embodiment provides a box-like housing 5 which is open at 5a along one side thereof to accommodate the laterally extending support for the brush block.

The renewable rail cap 6 which is applied to each of the rails is seen to be comprised of lengths of sheet steel which are worked into an essentially U-sha-ped configuration so as to be fitted snugly over the top end of each vertically extending rail side 1a. Thus each rail cap includes a top surface 6a which constitutes the wear surface of the track on which run the wheels of the travel ing cleaner. The wheels 7 which run on the left hand rail as viewed in FIG. 1 may be quite wide. The wheels 8 which run on the other rail can be more narrow, and other wheels 9 can be associated with the wheels 8 to prevent side-motion of the cleaner. These wheels 9 are so mounted as to make a rolling contact with the flanges 6b, 6c of the rail cap which make a snug, press fit with opposite faces of the rail side 1a. One flange 6c of the rail cap is provided with a re-entrant portion to strengthen it and the lower edge of the other flange 6b terminates at a point well above the bottom of a series of longitudinally spaced holes 10 provided in the rail side 1a thus exposing a portion of the holes to the persons installing the cap. This permits the holes to be quickly located so that the cap flange 6b can be upset at 6d into each hole along the rail with either a round-nosed punch and harnmer or a specially made pneumatic or hydraulic tool. FIG. 3 shows the condition of the cap flange before the upsetting operation, and FIG. 4 shows the condition after upsetting the portions 6d of the cap flange partly into the holes 10.

Thus, by staking the rail cap 6 into place on the rail at longitudinally spaced intervals, the cap will be held down in a secure manner. Inorder to replace the cap, it is only necessary to insert the upsetting tool into the holes 10 from the side opposite the upset flange areas and punch back the upset parts 6d to free the flange from the rail. The cap can then be lifted off and replaced with a new one.

In conclusion, it will be understood that while one em bodiment of the invention has been disclosed in detail, the novel structural details may be applied to other types of track structures without, however, departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a track structure, the combination comprising at least one rail, a cap installed on said rail, said cap including :1 depending flange portion located adjacent a side face of the rail, the lower edge of said flange portion terminating above the lowermost point of a series of longitudinally spaced holes provided in the side face of said rail, and said cap being locked in place on said rail by an upset of the cap flange into each of the holes in said rail.

2. In a track structure, the combination comprising at least one rail, a cap installed on said rail, said cap having a gene-rally U-shaped configuration and being applied over an upstanding side of the rail in an inverted attitude with one depending flange of the cap located adjacent one face of the rail side, the lower edge of said depending flange terminating above the lowermost point of a series of longitudinally spaced holes provided in said rail side and said cap being locked in place on said rail by an upset of the cap flange into each of the holes in said rail side.

3. A track structure as defined in claim 2 wherein said rail is constituted by L-shaped angle iron having one side thereof extending vertically upward, and wherein the other flange of said inverted U-shaped rail cap includes a reentrant portion in contact with the other face of the side of the rail.

Booth 238143 Eno 29-509 Rhodes 238143 Ellmane-rer 238143 Casterline 238-10 Tinnerman 24-20 1 10 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A TRACK STRUCTURE, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE RAIL, A CAP INSTALLED ON SAID RAIL, SAID CAP INCLUDING A DEPENDING FLANGE PORTION LOCATED ADJACENT A SIDE FACE OF THE RAIL, THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID FLANGE PORTION TERMINATING ABOVE THE LOWERMOST POINT OF A SERIES OF LONGITUDINALLY SPACED HOLES PROVIDED IN THE SIDE FACE OF SAID RAIL, AND SAID CAP BEING LOCKED IN PLACE ON SAID RAIL BY AN UPSET OF THE CAP FLANGE INTO EACH OF THE HOLES IN SAID RAIL. 